Defective mount detector



Oct. 4, 1955 F. J. GRUBE ET AL DEFECTIVE MOUNT DETECTOR Filed April 27, 1954 lnvesn tovsi Fvederick dfivube, Louis ADemchock S17,

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United States Patent DEFECTIVE MOUNT DETECTOR Frederick J. Grube, East Cleveland, and Louis- A. Demchock, Sr., Cleveland, Ohio, assiguors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 27, 1954, Serial No. 425,982

3 Claims. (Cl. 140-71.6)

Our invention relates to apparatus for detecting defective filament mounts of incandescent lamps.

A detecting device embodying the invention is of particular utility in combination with high-speed automatic mount making machines wherein it is preferable to provide an immediate indication of the failure of a mounting operation and to utilize that indication to control subsequently occurring operations of the mount making machines.

One object of our invention is to provide apparatus for automatically determining the presence of a faulty mount having the filamentimproperly attached to one of the leads thereof and hanging freely from the other lead.

Another object of our'invention is to provide automatic apparatus for detecting loose or unclamped filaments of mounts in the course of their manufacture, and to further provide in combination therewith means for deforming mounts found to be defective in this respect into an offset position to thereby prevent the loose hanging filaments from thereafter becoming entangled in and disrupting the normal operations of subsequent portions of the mount making apparatus.

Still other objects and features of our invention will appear from the following description of a species thereof and from the drawings.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan View of a filament detector comprising our invention and shown in operative relation to the path of movement of a mount in a mount making machine. 7

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the contact making elements of the filament detector, with. a mount shown in operative relation thereto.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of certain essential elements of the filament detector and showing a section through the contact making elements thereof and an associated defective mount in testing relation thereto, and also including the wiring diagram of associated electrical elements.

The filament detector shown in the drawing is constructed and arranged for meat a location along a path of movement 1 of a mount 2 being manufactured in a step-by-step manner by a conventional indexing type automatic mount making machine. The detector extends from a point adjacent one work station A along said path 1 to an operative position in the immediate vicinity of the succeeding work station B. The detector is adapted to be arranged directly following a work station at which the first step in a multiple step mounting operation takes place, in which step the filament 3 is presented to and clamped in books in the ends of a pair of leads 4 of the mount 2. Such a mount making machine is disclosed in Meckstroth et al. application, Serial No. 358,912, filed June 1, 1953, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The mount 2 first comes into operative association with the detector in the course of its index from station A to station B and isadvanced by a pair of jaws 5 and 6 on the indexing carrier or turret of the mount making machine, so that the looped filament 3 hanging down from the leads 4 of the mount 2 is caused to pass between the essentially vertical faces of a contact plate 7 and a guide plate 8. The function of the guide plate 8 and a connected second guide plate 9 extending further along the path 1 of movement is to gather in and control motion of the filament 3, which has a tendency to swing laterally across said path in pendulum fashion, so that the filament 3 comes to rest upon and wipes along the contact plate 7. The guide plate 8 and the contact plate 7 are relatively widely spaced at the point of entrance of the filament 3 therebetween, whereas the guide plate 9 and the contact plate 7 converge and then more or less parallel each other to provide a restricted passageway for the filament. The said restricted portion of the passageway provided by the plates 7 and 9 is initially aligned with the path of movement of the filament 3 but then diverges at a slight angle therefrom (outwardly from the circular path of movement 1 of the mount 2 in the particular arrangement shown) to cause the filament 3 to drape over the upper edge of and thus wipe against the contact plate 7, as shown by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 3 indicating the normal positions of the leads 4 and filament 3 of the mount 2. The vertical extent of the contact plate 7 is such that almost the full length of the looped filament 3, from a point just below the ends of the leads 4 to a point just above the bottom of the loop, wipes said contact plate 7. The lowermost portion of the filament loop arrives at a position opposite a second lower contact plate 10 essentially paralleling the upper contact plate 7, when the mount 2 finally reaches station B, but does not contact said second contact plate 10 since the upper edge 10 thereof is bent back, as shown in Fig. 3.

The primary function of the contact plate 7 is to make an electrical connection to the filament 3. However, means are also provided in the form of spring fingers 11 and 12 electrically connected to the contact plate 7 for contacting the leads 4 so as to effect a substitute electrical connection thereto should the first-mentioned connection at any time prove to be of high resistance or completely ineffective. The spring fingers 11 and 12 are fixed members attached to a metal post 13 extending upward from a mounting block 14 on the back of the contact plate 7, and they contact the inner lead portions of the respective leads 4 which are normally bent at an angle to one side of the path of movement of the glass arbor 15 on the center of the mount 2, as shown in dashdot lines in Fig. 3. The contact plate 7 is a fixed member mounted upon a post 16 extending upward from a table 17 (only partially shown in Fig. 3) underlying the path of motion of the mount 2, and it is attached to said post 16 by means of clamping block 18 and the tab 19 on the back of said contact plate 7.

A normal mount 2 having both ends of the filament 3 properly attached to the leads 4 thereof does not effect a further result in the detector, and the mount 2 will, after an interval at the detecting station B, be automatically advanced farther along the path 1 to the succeeding work stations of the machine in the normal manner, i. e., without causing any indication to be given of the presence of a defective mount. During this succeeding advance, the filament 3 again slides along the upper contact plate 7 to other portions of the mount making machine and also passes beyond the lower contact plate 10.

A defective mount 2, having only one end of its filament 3' attached to a lead 4, as shown in Fig. 3, effects a different course of operation in that extra length of filament 3 hanging down below the upper contact plate 7 then wipes against the lower contact plate 10 and by so doing completes an electrical circuit between the plates 3 7 and 10. The control effected by the said electrical circuitis adapted to many uses. However, means are provided, in the present instance, for lighting an indicator lamp 20 to draw the attention of the machine operator to the defective mount 2 and for operating a mount bending means 21 to cause the leads 4 and associated filament 3 to be shifted to an offset position where the filament cannot then interfere with the mount making apparatus at succeeding stations. The control circuit, in part represented by the defective filament 3', eifects direct control of .or energizes a relay 22 to which one connection is made by a lead 24 and a tab 23 connected to the back of the upper contact plate 7 and to which a second connection is made by a lead 26 and a tab 25 connected to the back of the lower contact plate 10. The tabs 23 and 25, and a bar 27 of insulating material extending therebetween and fastened thereto, also provide the means of mounting the lower contact in proper operative relation to the upper contact plate 7. The effectiveness of the defective filament 3' as the control element of the control circuit, i. e., its effectiveness in completing the control circuit, is increased by the presence of an inverted V-shaped ridge or hump 28 upon the filament engaging face of the lower contact plate 10 and a laterally extending heel flange 29 on the lower edge thereof over which ridge 28 and flange 29 the defective filament 3' rides so as to wipe them more positively. A further increase in effectiveness of the detector is obtained by utilizing a relay 22 of a type which reassociated with the detector are directly controlled by i the output or current carrying circuit of the relay 22, but are also under the timing control of a switch 30 which limits the period of operation of the lamp 20 and bending means 21 to the rest periods of the mount 2 at station B. The switch 30 is connected between lead 31 from the relay 22 and the leads 32 and 33 from the indicator lamp 20 and an actuating solenoid 34 of the mount bending means 21, and it energizes or maintains the output circuit of the relay 22 in accordance with the engagement of the switch by a cam 35 on the main drive shaft 36 of the mount making machine. Permanent leads 37-and 38 connect the indicator lamp 20 and the actuating solenoid 34, respectively, to one side of the line supply of electric current while a permanent lead 39 connects the relay 22 to the opposite side of the line supply.

The mount bending means 21 effects a bending or offsetting of both leads 4 of a defective mount 2 from the position shown in dash-dot lines in Fig. 3 to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and it performs this function when lever 40 is rocked about its pivot pin 41 so as to carry the end of a finger 42 on the lever against said leads 4. Normallyflche lever 40 is retained in an inoperative or retracted position wherein the finger 42 is clear of the path of movement of the mount 2, and it is not untilcurrent is applied to the actuating solenoid 34 that the-ar-mature'43 thereof, which is connected by a link 44 to the lower end of the lever 40, rocks said lever 40 so as to advance it into its operative or mount bending position. The finger 42 is mounted upon a laterally extending arm 45 fastened to the upper end of the lever 40, and it 'is provided with a center clearance slot 46 extending inward from the mount engaging end thereof, which slot 46 permits the finger 42 to straddle the arbor 15 of the mount 2 so as to engage with and bend the leads 4 of the mount". The contact fingers 11 and 12 are also pushed'back by the leads 4 during the lead bending operation, but because of their resiliency they are not permanently bent out of position. The fingers 11, 12 do not bear against the leads 4 with sufficient pressure .Jto again bend them back toward their initial position 4 after the bending finger 42 is retracted. The return motion of the lever 40 and the finger '42 occurs when the timed operation of the switch 30 opens the output circuit of the relay 22 to thereby' cause the de-energization of the solenoid 34, the lever 40 then being retracted by the contractive force of a helical spring 47 extending between and connected to postson the lever 40 and on the support bracket 48 for the pivot pin 41 of the lever. The return or retractive movement of 'thelever 40 is limited by the engagement of its lower end with a limiting stop or bar 49 on the bracket 48.

While we have described the preferred embodiment of our invention, we do not wish to be limited to the exact structure shown as it will "be understood that modifications of the precise manner by which our invention is carried into effect can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination with a lamp mount making machine comprising holder means for supporting a lamp mount having a pair of lead wires extending generally downward therefrom and an elongated filament normally connected at its ends torespective ones of said lead wires and hanging downwardly therefrom in loop form, means for indexing said holder means to successive stations, a defective mount detector device mounted adjacent a said station in definite relation to the path of travel of a mount in said head and including contact means arranged to be below the looped filament of a normal mount but engageable by the extended length of filament of a defective mount wherein the filament is connected to only one of said lead wires and hangs freely therefrom, bending means mounted at the said station comprising movable finger means arranged to be located to one side of a mount in the holder means at said station, electrically energizable actuating means for carrying said finger means into engagement with the lead wires of a mount at said station and bending said lead wires to one side to thereby displace the filament, and electric circuit means including said contact means and said electrically energizable actuating means and energizable only by engagement of the filament of a defective mount with said contact means to effect operation of said actuating means.

2. In combination with a lamp mount making machine comprising holder means for supporting a lamp mount having a pair of lead wires extending generally downward therefrom and an elongated filament normally connected at its ends to respective ones of said lead wires and hanging downwardly therefrom in loop form, means for indexing said holder means to successive stations, a defective mount detector device mounted adjacent a said station in definite relation to the path of travel of a mount in said head and including a pair of upper and lower vertically spaced contact members, said upper contact member being arranged to be engaged by the filament of a mount in said holder means, said lower contact member being arranged to be below the looped filament of a normal mount but engageable by the extended length of filament of a defective mount wherein the filament is connected to only one of said lead wires and hangs freely therefrom, bending means mounted at the said station comprising movable finger means arranged to be located to one side of a mount in the holder means at said station, electrically energizable actuating means for carrying said finger means into engagement with the lead wires of a mount at said station and bending said lead wires to one side to thereby displace the filament, and electric circuit means including said contact members and said electrically energizable actuating means and energ-izable only by engagement of the filament of a defective mount with both said contact members to effect operation of said actuating means.

3. In combination witha lamp mount making machine comprising holder means for supporting a lamp mount having a pair of lead wires extending generally downward therefrom and an elongated filament normally connected at its ends to respective ones of said lead wires and hanging downwardly therefrom in loop form, means for indexing said holder means to successive stations, a defective mount detector device mounted adjacent a said station in definite relation to the path of travel of a mount in said head and including a pair of upper and lower vertically spaced contact members, said upper contact member being arranged to be engaged by the filament of a mount in said holder means and being coextensive with a portion of the said path of travel of a mount to said station but intersecting the path of travel of the filament on said mount so as to deflect the filament and thereby make good electrical contact therewith, said lower contact member being arranged to be below the looped filament of a normal mount but engageable by the extended length of filament of a defective mount wherein the filament is connected to only one of said lead wires and hangs freely therefrom, bending means mounted at the said station comprising a movable finger means arranged to be located to one side of a mount in the holder means at said station, electrically energizable actuating means for carrying said finger means into engagement with the lead wires of a mount at said station and bending said lead wires to one side to thereby displace the filament, and electric circuit means including said contact members and said electrically energizable actuating means and energizable only by engagement of the filament of defective mount with both said contact members to elfect operation of said actuating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,380,742 Flaws July 31, 1945 2,549,296 Dilts Apr. 17, 1951 2,671,139 Dilts Mar. 2, 1954 

